Page 110 of Taken By Shadows

“It does to me.” I smiled, perhaps a little coy.

His eyes brightened, and a twinge of guilt snared inside of me.

“That is to say …” I paused, chewing on my lip. How did I say this without sounding incredibly desperate? “I need your help. A favour, actually. A big one.” And it was a huge ask. To lay his reputation at Kaed’s feet. To vouch for him was to put himself at the battlefront should Kaed slip up. It was monumental to ask a friend to do that, let alone ask someone who hated Kaed.

“I’m intrigued.” His voice was deep, and it trembled through me like fingers tickling the spines of the books. “Though I am likely going to say yes. I’m not sure I could refuse a request from you.” He smiled, and he stepped into my space.

“You might not say that when you know what I’m asking.” A flicker of a weak smile twitched on my lips.

“Oh?” So much resonance filled that single word.

I took a ragged breath. Which I think Eryk mistook for nerves around him, not the gravity of the request.

“Kaed has been arrested.”

“Again?” He laughed.

I nodded. Not interested in the humour he saw in it.

“They—the council—have him held in the Cage, and they won’t let him out until someone vouches for him.”

Eryk had definitely not been expecting that. He stood with his mouth open a little, his body still like a winter tree. “You’re joking?” He stood back on his hip. “Me? Of all people, I am the last person anyone would expect to speak on Kaedian’s behalf. Well, besides his brother. Few males hate Kaedian as much as Hart.”

“I’m not joking,” I said. Steady. Even.

“I believe you’re a good person, Imogen. But I also believe you deserve better than a male like Kaedian, and I don’t think I can be the person you need me to be. You deserve better than me, also.”

Eryk turned to leave, but my hand shot out to his wrist. “Wait. Please.” I let the desperation I felt flood my words. What did it matter if he knew he was my only option?

“Imogen—” He sighed. “I’m not the person for this job. Get one of his friends. His sentinel. Someone else.” He pulled from my hold.

I shook my head vehemently as my lip threatened to wobble. “No. The council has excluded them from doing this. They can’t.”

Eryk didn’t say anything for a long time, and I let him spin the choice around in his head.

“I’m not able to do this,” he finally said. “I’m sorry. I wish to better this city and do what is right for her and the Four Corners.” He paused. “And this is not that.” With a final, solemn look, he said, “I can’t do this. I’m sorry. Goodnight, Lady Imogen.”

He gave a tight bow and turned.

“Eryk …” I didn’t know what I would even say, but his name on my lips made him pause.

“You deserve better than Kaedian. We all do.” Eryk looked like he was debating saying more, but he squared his shoulders and turned to me. “Crowns don’t make kings, power does.” His voice filled the hollow halls around me. “And when the wrong hands hold that power, it becomes a devouring force.”

I shifted my feet and clutched my arms under his words. It felt as though he were talking about something else entirely.

“I need your help. Please,” I said, ignoring whatever he hid behind his words. I didn’t know the king. But Kaed was not him. Eryk couldn’t blame Kaed for his father’s actions. “I know it’s too much to ask. But I need to know you’ll help me.”

“Do you even know what you’re asking?”

The air was heavy, charged with unspoken, tethered anger.

“What happened?” I reached for his arm, but he stiffened before I could touch him again, and my fingers recoiled. “I know Kaed’s father—”

“No.” Eryk’s voice cut through me. “Not the king. Not Tir.”

The stillness of the library swallowed my voice as I waited for Eryk to speak. Silence and heartbeats were all that passed between us for a long moment.

“Kaedian tore through my town like we were nothing but tinder to his fire.” Eryk’s voice was far away and floating over me. “Aurorans had stationed themselves in our town. We had no way to force them out. My home was a farming region at the tip of the Southern Corner, and the first in a long line of conquests for the Northern Crown as the king’s forces pushed to control the South.